: About Me

I am an overeducated officeworker who is hoping to reinvent himself through his writing.

I have two Master's Degrees, one in Modern German History, the other in Russian Studies. I speak both German and Russian rather well, but a bit rustily at present; I also learned a little bit of Italian before a trip to Rome a couple of years ago. My first love, however, was ancient Egypt, which captivated me at the tender age of 6. If you've come to this page from my articles, this will not be much of a surprise.

Writing entered the picture in high school, shortly after I was introduced to the stories of H. P. Lovecraft. I devoured his works during my freshman year, and by Christmas vacation, I had already had my first idea for a story of my own. I wrote a fair amount during my undergraduate years, even winning a couple of short story contests, but set my writing aside while pursuing my graduate studies. Taking it back up has been an on-again, off-again proposition.

In 2007 I got serious about writing the novel that has been bouncing around in my head for almost a decade, and spent half the year on research. The novel, surprisingly enough, is set in ancient Egypt. With all of that reading fresh in my mind, the call for articles on Egypt in the Ancient History section seemed like a golden opportunity.

For those interested in seeing a sample of my fiction, please follow the link to my story Tisiphone at the right. The story is something of an homage to Poe, but I hope, more than a mere imitation.

My passion is ...

Learning and creativity ... best of all when I can engage in both.

My childhood ambition ...

To be an archaeologist ... until I learned that I was a natural consumer, not producer, of archaeology.

Why I write ...

Because I have ideas that I need to see written out, and no one else has done it for me!

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

I read a fair amount of history, and love a good scary tale. Musically, I am an aficionado of classically-based Heavy Metal.

My first job ...

Concessionist in a movie theater.

My best moment ...

I hope it's still ahead of me, rather than behind me.

My inspiration ...

Dante, Shakespeare, Poe, Lovecraft, Tolkien

Arts & Humanities > Middle Ages Why Saladin's victory at the Battle of Hattin was a turning point in the history of the Crusades

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The improbable success of the First Crusade fueled a sense of inevitability on the part of the Crusaders. While neighboring Muslims were far too numerous to ignore, Crusaders felt that divine favor and proven European tactics would ensure the success of the Crusader States, even after the reversals of the middle 12th century. For the better part of that century, this assumption seemed to be right to all but the most astute; this faith was not to be truly shaken until the Battle of the Horns of Hattin. Many factors influenced the success of the early Crusaders, from its own high level of mo...

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